Photo: Black-crowned night heron by Derrick Johnson
Hello everyone,
What a great walk we had this week! The Redbud and all the other flowering trees, with the exception of the cherry trees, looked lovely. The bridge in the Japanese Garden has reopened and from that vantage point we saw a Black-crowned Night Heron being chased by a Red-winged Blackbird. Our migrants are coming back; we had our first of season Eastern Kingbird as well as a lot of Barn Swallows, Chimney Swifts and Palm Warblers. The presence of four Northern Shovelers was a welcome sight. Unfortunately, the Double-crested Cormorant that was observed on the shoreline during last Saturday’s walk was found deceased on Sunday by one of our birders.
The highlight of the day was the sighting of a very rare visitor to our park – a Little Blue Heron was perched on the east side of the Island and we had great looks at it from the meadow. At first we thought it was a Green Heron but Marian, Peter and Tracy wisely questioned that I.D. Tracy got a telephoto shot of the bird that confirmed that it was indeed a Little Blue Heron! Cheryl posted the sighting on the Cook County Bird Chat on the Group Me app and birders from around the area flocked to Jackson Park during the course of the day. I saw the bird again at 5:15pm when it appeared to be settling in for the night, but it was not re-found on Sunday. I guess it just used Jackson Park as its Best Western Motel for the night. I hope it enjoyed the free breakfast that we provided.
BIRDERS: Nathan, Marian, Jennie, Cheryl, Mark C., Leslie, Becky, Bruce, Jane, Mark W., Marisa, Tracy, Letty, Peter, Renate, Nick, Liz and welcome to Keith, Mary, Stacy, Barbara and Sid.
TIME: 8:00am to noon
WEATHER: 43 degrees, mostly sunny, light winds. Light rain developed later in the walk.
Compiler: Cheryl
Photographers: Tracy, Marisa, Leslie
Canada Goose Number observed: 18
Wood Duck Number observed: 8
Blue-winged Teal Number observed: 5
Northern Shoveler Number observed: 4
Mallard Number observed: 12
Pied-billed Grebe Number observed: 2
Chimney Swift Number observed: 30
American Coot Number observed: 3
Spotted Sandpiper Number observed: 1
shorebird sp. Number observed: 2
Ring-billed Gull Number observed: 16
Herring Gull Number observed: 2
Caspian Tern Number observed: 2
Great Blue Heron Number observed: 3
Little Blue Heron Number observed: 1
Green Heron Number observed: 1
Black-crowned Night-Heron Number observed: 3
Turkey Vulture Number observed: 3
Osprey Number observed: 1
Cooper's Hawk Number observed: 1
Belted Kingfisher Number observed: 4
Red-bellied Woodpecker Number observed: 2
Downy Woodpecker Number observed: 2
Northern Flicker Number observed: 7
Eastern Kingbird Number observed: 1
Blue Jay Number observed: 1
American Crow Number observed: 5
Black-capped Chickadee Number observed: 2
Northern Rough-winged Swallow Number observed: 4
Purple Martin Number observed: 10
Tree Swallow Number observed: 2
Barn Swallow Number observed: 15
Ruby-crowned Kinglet Number observed: 5
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Number observed: 6
European Starling Number observed: 2
Brown Thrasher Number observed: 2
Hermit Thrush Number observed: 3
American Robin Number observed: 18
House Sparrow Number observed: 8
American Goldfinch Number observed: 9
White-throated Sparrow Number observed: 29
Savannah Sparrow Number observed: 1
Song Sparrow Number observed: 1
Swamp Sparrow Number observed: 4
Eastern Towhee Number observed: 2
Red-winged Blackbird Number observed: 17
Brown-headed Cowbird Number observed: 2
Common Grackle Number observed: 5
Black-and-white Warbler Number observed: 1
Common Yellowthroat Number observed: 1
Yellow Warbler Number observed: 3
Palm Warbler Number observed: 11
Pine Warbler Number observed: 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler Number observed: 13
Northern Cardinal Number observed: 6
If you’d like more information about a bird, check out the All About Birds ID guide:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/
Corrections, additions and comments are welcome.
Good birding everyone,
Jennie